Battles of East Ports

The Battles of East Ports refers to a pair of skirmishes in and around Olek and Ship. The battles are collectively considered the second battle of the Chaos War of LY 912, fought on 13 and 22 Aut'gin.

The origins of these battles can be traced back to the war known as the Coming of the Order, in LY 903. At that time, the newly formed Navy of what would become the Second Order pressed several merchant ships into service, including the Java Junk IV, which was owned by a clan from Frinn that grew and transported coffee around the world. The ship was destroyed by Protestant forces during that war, but rather than blame the Protestants, the clan has since that time borne a grudge against the Second Order. This resentment would eventually lead to the clan's new ship, the Java Junk V, secretly helping rescue Colonel Stavros Supprus and a platoon under his command from imprisonment in Near Port on 15 Su'yet, 912, not long before the start of the Chaos War.

On 2 Aut'gin, the Java Junk V reached Frinn. Col. Supprus left his platoon to join Marshal Poss Primus in Kimrin, to help plan the impending war. Meanwhile, his platoon (now led by Lt. Gregory deCamp) worked with the ship's crew and the clan that owned it to recruit other local merchants and assemble a small task force of three ships, led by the JJ5. They sailed south from Frinn on 9 Aut'gin, and were joined by two more ships from Toobay, and continued south to attack the naval base at Olek on 13 Aut'gin, taking them entirely by surprise. Their primary objective was disabling the Olekki fleet's flagship, which they accomplished. They also managed to disable several other ships, as well as commandeering a dreadnought and a frigate, which they added to their own task force.

After that victory, they sailed north toward Ship, where they arrived on 22 Aut'gin. This time, the naval base at that village was expecting them. The port was heavily guarded by both the Shipper fleet, and the Ristarian fleet that had arrived at Ship on 8 Aut'gin, having transported the Army regiment from Ristar. However, what the Navy wasn't expecting was that the enemy task force already had allies in Ship: 600 Rats, led by Jack Dockrat of the BiShip gang (though the majority of the 'rats were not actually members of the gang). The 'rats managed to sabotage a number of the Navy's ships shortly before the arrival of the JJ5 and its fleet. More than just the damage, but also the confusion caused by the 'rats, made it easy for the rebel fleet to sink several naval vessels and commandeer a cruiser and a galleon, bringing their own fleet's total to ten ships.

Of course, the damage done to the Navy was far from absolute, and the confusion couldn't last for long. If the battle had gone on much longer than it did, the tide surely would have turned against the rebels. But they made a quick strike and withdrew just as quickly, once again heading north, this time toward Port. On 1 Aut'mo' they rendezvoused with the fleet commanded by Alphonse Teach, and on 7 Aut'mo', the combined fleet took part in the Battle of Port Sea.